The present invention is directed toward a wall mounted housing for cable television components and more particularly toward such a housing which is substantially tamper proof and which is intended to be utilized in apartment complexes and the like.
Wall mounted housings of the class to which the present invention belongs have been known and used for many years. Such devices have been used for housing telephone and other electrical connections and the like. More recently, such devices have been used for housing cable connections and related components for cable television particularly in apartment complexes and other multi-resident dwellings.
It is not uncommon, particularly in new construction, for a cable television company to wire all apartments in a building for cable television. However, not all of the individual cables will be connected to the main cable. Only those residents who subscribe will have their cable connected. Furthermore, different channels are normally available and not all subscribers may subscribe to all of the available programming. The equipment and connections needed to select the appropriate channels are normally located at the point of connection between the individual cables and the main incoming cable.
In order to prevent an apartment owner or other unauthorized person from connecting his cable to the main cable when he is not a subscriber or from obtaining access to an unsubscribed channel, the various connections and components are normally mounted in a tamper-proof housing. However, most housings which have been designed to be tamper proof have not always performed their function. It has been Applicants' experience that tenants have been able to open substantially all known prior art housings. This is frequently done by prying a part thereof open. This is not only is expensive since the housing must be repaired or replaced but the cable companies lose extremely large and unknown sums of money due to stolen services from tenants who are not paying subscribers.
There are various other features of the prior art devices known to Applicants which are also undesirable. Whenever the connections or equipment within the housing need service, the service person must remove a cover member. In prior devices known to Applicants, the cover members are totally removable and the service person must then find a place to temporarily store the cover member and hope that it is not damaged or lost in the interim. Furthermore, many of the housings require the use of a strand bar for supporting various types of cable television components and cables. In all prior devices known to Applicants, these bars are supported by hangers which must be mounted on the inner walls of the housings. The use of such hangers increases the cost of production of the housings.